


Reckoning

by medical_mechanica



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Gen, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Spoilers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 08:09:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medical_mechanica/pseuds/medical_mechanica
Summary: This is how it Ends. Spoilers for the end of the game. Prompto's perspective. This is the darkest timeline.---The trajectory of Prompto Argentum’s entire existence had lead up to this point, and he had done it all for one unyielding fact.With all of his being, he was in love with Noctis Lucis Caelum.





	Reckoning

That’s when he knew.

Prompto caught himself in his bow, even face breaking into one of hopelessness as he let his focus on the dingy ground before him slip as he screwed his eyes shut. That was that. He had missed his chance, and he bit back a gulp around the growing knot in his throat. He could hear Noctis’ retreating steps grow distant just as the distorted creaking of incoming Daemons sounded behind him. Darting his eyes left, he caught Ignis’ movement to summon his daggers. 

This was it.

He turned to follow, hand meeting the familiar cool grip around his gun with no more than a thought. Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto found themselves squaring off against two Iron Giants and several more demons emerging from the depths of the Citadel, surrounding their periphery. He fired a warning shot, while Gladio let out a beastial roar, moving to the front. Ignis bent into a near crouch, daggers at the ready. A small but persistent voice in his head cried and screamed as he tried not to look back at best friend. For the last time. 

The fear that would have otherwise overwhelmed him didn’t seem to land, despite the dampness he could feel begging to eek out from the corners of his eyes. 

Ten years of waiting, and this was the moment it had hit him. From back when Noctis first had tried to help him up so long ago to this very moment, their entire friendship and lives had built up to this point, and of course, this was how it all came together. He had spent most of their last night failing his attempts to avoid crying, and even when Noctis had put a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes and smiled that damn smile he had waited and waited for, the moment slipped by so quickly he couldn’t capture it in his mind, he couldn’t preserve it like all of the photos that would be all that were left after th-

The Iron Giant closest to him came down with its sword, and he dodged closer to the Tactician. The Shield came at the farther one, sweeping his greatsword up into its ribs. Ignis tossed a spell out to the pair, rendering the second temporarily immobilized. Ignis ended with his back up toward the blonde. They would have been doing well, but before they could successfully form up against the second Iron Giant, a stampede of Goblins rushed them from all sides, and any time they had to act fell into to a frenzy of parries and dodges. Prompto did his best to stay out of arm’s length to fire off the occasional shot, while Ignis gracefully blocked in a hurried fashion around them both. This went on for the better part of several minutes. Gladio’s shield constantly barreled into wave after wave, but there were such a number of them that it became impossible to keep up, and the gunner winced as he was caught in the thigh with a small dagger and again in shoulder. The knot in Prompto’s throat grew tighter still as if to choke him. As he shuddered in a breath around it, he conjured up his massive circular saw and just shut his eyes and grimaced through the ensuing carnage.

This was it.

As much as he had tried to prepare for this moment, as much as he knew what lie on the other side of their victory, as much as he knew that this had truly been what he was put on Eos for, he wasn’t ready. Not now, not when he had finally figured things out for himself.

With a sudden heavy twist in the air around them, the Iron Giants let out two gravity bombs. The gunner felt the ground leave his feet as he and all around him were yanked in. Some of the injured goblins were instantly ripped in half as they were pulled between the two bombs, disintegrating back into an inky black mist. The guys knocked together in the center of it all, landing in a messy heap. As the wave passed, the three moved to jump to their feet. Ignis almost instantly collapsed upon trying to rise. 

“Iggy!” The man hadn’t been faring too well, and was now starting to show just how many hits he had taken during their exchange with the first several waves of goblins.

Just as the gunner slapped an Elixir against Ignis’ back, what Prompto could only describe as a sonic boom resounded from above them. In spite of the chaos around them, the gunner peered up. “What was that?”, Ignis inquired, turning toward the sound. In the very far distance, at the top of the Citadel, a familiar blue light shone. “Well, if it isn’t the King of Light,” Gladio called out, and a smile weaker than he would have liked grew on Prompto’s lips. The tone of solid pride and affection in the Shield’s voice could not be missed. Ignis smiled to himself. It wouldn’t last, as the Iron Giants seemed to have pushed them into the center of the roundabout, axes coming in wide at both sides. Ignis seemed to have been paying more attention in that second, because he shoved the blonde, who crashed on to his back and out of the line of fire. Gladio raised his shield and sounded a grunt as the force of both axes knocked him to his knees and down further still. The block hadn’t been able to reach Ignis, who had been caught along the spine and forcefully knocked face first across the street, landing in a tumble until he stopped.

“NO!” The gunner cried out and he reached for the broken form of the Advisor, bleeding on the asphalt, body curled backward around the base of a lamppost. Ignis, dazed, took a very long time to lift his head while Gladio proceeded to pull the Daemons attention toward him and away. Arachne began to fall from some unseen partition of the towers above them.

It wasn’t fair. It had never been fair. This was not a game they had been meant to win. The thought had been one that had crossed the gunner’s mind over and over and over like broken code, but he had come to terms with it. Expect that was a lie, and if given a second chance he would have done everything again so differently. Prompto had lost so much time, only to have to come to this. 

The blue light above them seemed to be growing brighter by the minute, and the blonde’s breath caught. It was almost like seeing the sun rise again.

If only he could get to Ignis, they could regroup. If only he had been more honest, if only-

If only they could see the sun again together, one last time. 

Just missing another gaggle of goblins headed his way, he made a dash across the area. Ignis was just starting to rise, sensing the impending wave and firing off a Fira at the goblins tailing the gunner. The Advisor’s breathing was ragged, and he looked like he would soon be in need of a Phoenix Down. The blond did his best to fire off as many rounds as possible in all directions, trying to provide cover for himself and the other two as they wailed on wave after endless wave. He was running low on potions.

Prompto wanted to be scared; he wanted to be angry. Angry at the disgusting thing that had caused all of their suffering that dared to once call himself a ‘King’, angry at the Astrals for letting this happen, angry at the man who once bestowed upon him the title of “son”, but now, now, facing the cascading relentless wave of Daemons threatening to consume them, all he could feel was despair. He despaired every moment he wasted being so worried about what other people would think of him if he had been honest. If he had been honest. If only he hadn’t been so stupid. He was so stupid, and now - 

A wail sounded, and the body of the second Iron Giant fell several feet away in the opposite direction of Ignis, Gladio gripping onto sword buried in it’s chest.

Prompto wanted to feel triumphant, but then he glanced a closer look at the Shield. A wide gash across his ribs was tainted with poison, and the man was covered in a slick sheen of sweat. Before Gladiolus could remove his weapon from the corpse, a spider woman was upon him, shield materializing just a moment too slow. He could see a pincer tear through the man’s shoulder. With a cry, the tank of a man persisted, just able to block the next blow. After emptying an entire chamber’s worth of bullets into the creature, Prompto looked back to Ignis, still cornered across the way, the incoming wave of goblins was now being tailed by Necromancers. Ignis stood up to his full height upon their approach, looking as regal as Prompto had ever seen him. Holding his head high and placing a hand over his heart, both of his daggers flared to life as Sagefire crackled around them. Before the horde could consume the Tactician, he ran straight into it, disappearing before an explosion rocked everything in his path. Ignis was nowhere to be seen. The gunner was stuck in the middle, looking between the two.

By that point, the sky around the Citadel burned with magic. The air felt the way it did before lightning struck. Without any warning, the gun in Prompto’s hand dissipated. It would not return. Blue eyes widened in shock.

That could only mean one thing.

The cold grip of fear sank straight through his heart.

A sob erupted from Prompto’s chest uncontrollably, the tears that had threatened to fall early rushed all too quickly to his cheeks and streamed down to his chin. His best buddy, his closest friend, the only person on the whole planet to ever stop and notice him, to validate him, to come to his rescue, the man he had waited ten years in darkness for to return, his King, was…

Noctis was dead.

Prompto had never gotten to tell him how he felt.

Another Iron Giant approached. 

The blond gritted his teeth, panic tinging the despair as it settled in for the first time. His eyes darted back and forth to the spots where he had last seen Ignis and Gladio, but they were nowhere to be found. The Daemons seemed fuzzier now, as if unable to hold form, but it did not seem to keep them from coming. He fell to his knees, hyperventilating, coming to cradle his trigger finger. As if on cue, he recalled the smile Noctis had given him the night before. The way the prince snored in the backseat of the Regalia so long ago. The several times Prompto had farted and blamed it on his bestie, when Noctis had borrowed his homework and they both failed the pop quiz the next day, the way he was bored when the prince kept them at a dock all day fishing, the way they held hands while Prompto dragged them through Lestallum the first time, the way Noctis’s breath fell against his cheek while they slept after he had told him he was “good enough,” the way they comfortably fell asleep in a hotel bed in Altissa, pressed together as if the other would disappear by morning.

The trajectory of Prompto Argentum’s entire existence had lead up to this point, and he had done it all for one unyielding fact. 

With all of his being, he was in love with Noctis Lucis Caelum.

The rest was silence.

**Author's Note:**

> This was not the fic I set out to write today. 
> 
> I sat down and it just sort of happened after hearing about Tabata-san's answer to a fan's question regarding the end of the game. I wasn't initially going to share this with anyone because I thought it was too sad. Well, it's still sad, but now it's a lot less likely. The name is actually after The Scarring Party's song of the same name from their album, "End Times".
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
